


A Walk In The Woods

by evewithanapple



Category: Darkest Powers - Kelley Armstrong
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-26 23:59:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evewithanapple/pseuds/evewithanapple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There's no rules against tree-climbing."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Walk In The Woods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [torigates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/gifts).



“Derek!”

No answer. I put my hands on my hips.

“Derek. I know you’re out there.”

There was a rustling noise in the bushes nearby. I grinned. Even though Derek, as a werewolf, should theoretically have the instinct to stalk quietly through the woods, I think the Edison Group might have accidentally bred that out of him. He can’t sneak to save his life.

“I know you’re _the-ere_ ,” I said in a singsong. “I can _hear_ you.”

There was another rustling noise, this time right behind me. I grinned and counted under my breath. “One . . . two . . .”

On “three” I dove to the ground, just as a giant black furry figure leapt out of the bushes. He’d aimed for me back, but missed, and went somersaulting over my head instead, landing head-over-tail in the dirt. He picked himself up with an injured snuffle, and glared at me.

I shrugged. “Serves you right.”

Derek loves these stalking games. I do too, honestly- it’s like playing hide and seek, but usually with an added . . . bonus at the end. After he’s Changed back. Of course, I’m almost always the one who wins, since he can’t hide to save his life, but we’re both okay with that.

A mischievous gleam came into his eyes and be pranced backward, making a small whuffing noise. I laughed, because I knew what was coming. He lowered himself on his front paws, tail waggling in the air, and leapt. I jumped out of the way, and once again, he ended up hitting the ground and rolling.

“Told you.”

With a growl, he jumped up again and charged. Again, I jumped out of the way, but this time he wheeled around as soon as I jumped, and that time I wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and I found myself on the ground with a giant shaggy black wolf on top of me.

He barked triumphantly. I rolled my eyes and shoved at him. “Get off. You’re crushing me.”

He jumped back, expression shifting from triumph to worry like I’d known it would. He whined, nudging my foot with his snout while I sat up, making carefully sure to look like I was struggling. He whined again.

I counted- in my head this time, since his wolf senses would catch the sound of my whispers. _One, two_ .  . .

On “three” I leapt up and bolted into the trees, leaving Derek yelping in indignation behind me. I couldn’t outrun him the old-fashioned way- I was, after all, not a super-strong wolf. But I did have one thing over him, and that was opposable thumbs. As soon as I reached a tree with low-hanging branches, I skidded to a stop and flung my arms around the one closest to me, scuffing my feet against the trunk as I wrapped my legs around the branch and pulled myself up unto a sitting position. I hadn’t climbed a lot of trees growing up-perils of living in the big city- but evidently my early monkey bar education had paid off.

Derek skidded to a stop underneath the tree, and swung his head back and forth, looking for me. I bit back a giggle. He could smell me, but the scent trail ended at the foot of the tree, and he wouldn’t see me unless he looked up. He barked sharply, and I could hear what he was saying without words: “No fair!” To help him out a bit, I let my foot swing freely, smacking my heel against the tree trunk. His head snapped up. I giggled a bit under my breath, and let out a light whistle.

Derek turned in circles, nose to the ground, until the trail lead him around to the base of the tree again. He looked up and saw me. His earlier bark turned into a frenzy as he put his paws up against the base of the tree and scowled at me. It was kind of amazing, how he somehow managed to contort a wolf’s face into a scowl. For someone as non-expressive as Derek was as a human, it was kind of a miracle.

“Nuh-uh,” I called down. “Not until you’ve Changed back.”

He huffed irritably, and stalked off into the woods, back to where we’d left his clothes. I swung my leg over the tree branch again, and shimmied down until my feet touched the forest floor again. We didn’t have too much time left on our walk- dinner was at six, and if we were late, Aunt Lauren would give us both the evil eye and probably formulate some way to keep us for going on more walks anytime soon. We had to be quick.

The bushes rustled behind me, and I started to turn around, but not fast enough- Derek leapt on me from behind, pulling me to the ground while being careful not to drop his full weight on me. I laughed, kicking ineffectually at him. “Hey, no fair!”

“No _fair_?” His breath tickled my ear. “You climbed a tree!”

“There’s no rules against tree-climbing.” I flipped over in his arms and wriggled closer. “It’s not my fault wolves can’t climb.”

He growled. I laughed again, and wiggled closer to kiss him, feeling his sigh melt under my mouth. The first time Derek Changed, I'd been, and the pain on his face had been almost unbearable to watch. I knew better than to think that it had gotten better for him, really- but he'd a lot better at it, which meant that he could get through it faster, knowing that it would be over relatively soon. There was also the added incentive of knowing that I’d be waiting to prove him with a . . . reward. For both of us.

“Chloe!”

Derek lifted his head with a growl. I lifted a finger to his lips, but tensed, waiting for another call.

“Chloe! Derek! Dinner!” It was my Aunt Lauren's voice.

Derek rolled off me with a groan. “You’ve got to be kidding.” He looked at me through the hair that had fallen in his face. “Do you think she plans this? On purpose?”

“Probably.” I stood up, brushing my jeans off and taking his hand. “But we still have to head back. C'mon."

He looked at me mutinously.

" _Orrrrrrrrr_ ," I said, "we could head deeper into the woods and say we didn't hear her calling when she asks. Think she'd fall for it?"

Derek considered. "No."

"Think we could give it a shot anyway?"

A slow grin spread over his face. "Hell yes."

He pulled on my hand, and we ran deeper into the woods, laughing. We could deal with Aunt Lauren- and dinner later. We'd bought ourselves a few more minutes, and that was enough for now.


End file.
